Cooler and windy this weekend ... and (a bit of) rain Monday

By Jim Purpura. Posted February 24, 2012, 4:52 PM.

Our great winter weather is drawing to a close as the weekend begins. The high pressure ridge responsible for several days of near 80 degree weather in many inland locations in Southern California is departing. A trough of low pressure will take its place.

The change will be to much cooler weather, gusty winds (strongest in the mountains and deserts), and a chance of light rain or showers.

The winds are expected to reach 50 to 60 mph in the mountain/desert areas beginning Sunday night into Monday. Winds of 20 to 30 mph may occur across the Inland Empire.

Like many storms this winter, moisture will again be limited. Most of the rain will fall Monday, and it will be showery, so wide variations in totals should be expected. For most locations rainfall will be a tenth of an inch or less, for some up to 1/3 inch. In the mountains, at lower elevations, rainfall totals will be as high as 1/2 inch at lower elevations.

Cold air in this system means snowfall of 2 to 4 inches will fall above 4000 feet. The snow level will be at 5000 feet Sunday night then lower to 3000 feet Monday.

Main impacts look to be low snow levels, freezing on mountains roads, and strong winds in canyons and passes.

The Menifee, California weather pages are a service of WeatherCurrents. The City of Menifee consists of the communities of Menifee, Sun City and Quail Valley and is located in in southwestern Riverside County, California, north of Murrieta, south of Perris and east of Canyon Lake.